Game table

ABSTRACT

A GAME TABLE FOR THE PLAYING OF CARD GAMES INVOLVING THE USE OF CHIPS AND WHICH IS ESPECIALLY INTENDED FOR COMMERICAL CARD ROOMS. THE TABLE INCLUDES A DETACHABLE RIM PORTION DIVIDED BY CIRCUMFERENTIALLY SPACED OUTWARDLY AND DOWNWARDLY PROJECTING ARMS INTO SECTIONS OR STATIONS, EACH LOCATED BETWEEN ADJACENT ARMS, ONE OF WHICH IS AL-   LOTTED TO EACH PLAYER, THUS PREVENTING ANY PLAYER FROM OCCUPYING MORE THAN HIS ALLOTTED SPACE. EACH STATION CONTAINS FACILITIES TO ACCOMMODATE A DRINKING GLASS, AN ASHTRAY, CHIPS AND MATCHES, AS WELL AS A CONVENIENTLY LOCATED ARM REST.

Feb. 6, 1973 T. G. BROWN 3,715,122

GAME TABLE Filed Feb. 23, 1971 2 SheetSSheet 1 l' 65 INVENTOR 64 f 70F|G.|O. e7 eef THEODORE G. BROWN ATTORNEY 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 T. G. BROWNGAME TABLE Feb. 6, 1973 Filed Feb. 23, 1971 INVENTOR THEODORE G. BROWNBY fm M United States Patent O U.S. Cl. 273--136 Z 9 Claims ABSTRACT OFTHE DISCLOSURE A game table for the playing of card games involving theuse of chips and which is especially intended for commercial card rooms.The table includes a detachable rim portion divided by circumfereutiallyspaced outwardly and downwardly projecting arms into sections orstations, each located between adjacent arms, one of which is allottedto each player, thus preventing any player from occupying more than hisallotted space. Each station contains facilities to accommodate adrinking glass, an ashtray, chips and matches, as well as a convenientlylocated arm rest.

SUMMARY It is a primary aim of the present invention to provide a cardtable for use in commercial card rooms which will eliminate the need forseparate drink stands, which are frequently overturned, and whichincludes means for supporting drinks, at positions below the level ofthe players arms, to prevent overturning of the drinks, and means forsupporting ashtrays in positions in which players clothing can not `comein contact therewith and be burnt by the contents thereof.

Another object of the invention is to provide a game table having acentral playing area supported by a table top and surrounded by a rimwhich is detachably mounted on and likewise supported by the table topand which includes divided areas or stations, one of which is utilizedby each player, and each of wwhich includes means for holding a drink,an ashtray, chips and matches.

Another object of the invention is to provide a game table including areadily replaceable cover for said central area.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafterbecome more fully apparent from the following description of thedrawings, illustrating presently preferred embodiments thereof, andwherein:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a top plan View of oneembodiment of the game taible;

FIG. 2 is a substantially central vertical sectional view thereof, takensubstantially along a plane as indicated by the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view takensubstantially along a plane as indicated by the line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary top plan view of a part of the gametable structure as seen in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view, ta'ken substantially along a planeas indicated by the line 5--5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken substantially alonga plane as indicated by the line 66i of FIG. 4;

3,715,122 Patented Feb. 6, 1973 ICC FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentaryvertical sectional view taken substantially along a plane as indicatedby the line 7-7 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view, takensubstantially along a plane as indicated by the line 8 8 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view, takensubstantially along a line 9 9 of FIG. 1, and

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary vertical sectional View, similar to FIG. 2,illustrating a modified embodiment of the game table.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring more specifically tothe drawings, and first with reference to FIGS. 1 to 9, the game table,designated generally 12, as embodied therein, includes a base 13, FIG.2, which is adapted to rest upon a Hoor or other suitable horizontalsupporting surface 14. A post or upright 15 is fixed to and rises fromthe center of the base 13 and the central portion of a table top 16 ismounted on and secured to the upper end of the post 15. A pad or cushion17, preferably formed of sponge rubber, is mounted on and secured to theupper surface of the table top 16 and is preferably of a diametersomewhat less than the diameter of the table top 16, as seen in FIGS. 2and 3.

The game table 12 also includes a rim, designated generally 18, which ispreferably of molded plastic construction and which is illustrated asbeing of octagonal shape, as seen in FIG. 1. The rim 18 includes anoctagonal shaped top wall 19 having a downturned inner wall 20 which islikewise of octagonal shape, defining an octagonal shaped opening of therim 18.

The rim 18 includes eight equally spaced downwardly and outwardlyextending arms Z1 which project from the top wall 19 and each of whichis outwardly bowed, as seen in FIGS. 2 and 3. Portions of' the top wall19, from which the arms 21 project, are recessed crosswise of said arms,and each of said recesses 22 receives an elongated arm rest 23 in theform of a padded cushion, as best seen in FIGS. 7 and 8, having a rigidbase 24 which rests upon the bottom of the recess 22. Said recess bottomand the base 24 have aligned openings 25 which also align with nuts 26which are secured to the upper side of the base 24, to receive thumbscrews 27 which are threaded upwardly therethrough for securing the armrest 23 in the recess 22, with the upper surface of said arm restdisposed above the level of the top wall 19.

As best seen in FIG. 3, each arm 21 has an outwardly opening recess 28,beneath and adjacent the recess 22, including an upwardly facing bottom`wall 29, forming a shelf, and an outwardly facing rear wall 30. Therecess 28 is adapted to accommodate an ashtray 31 which rests upon theshelf 29. Each arm '21 is provided with a recess 32 at its lower endincluding an outturned bottom wall forming a shelf 33 and an outwardlyfacing rear wall 34, which extends upwardly from the shelf 33 `and whichis of V-shape cross section, as best seen in FIG. 1.

The top wall 19, between the depressions 22, is provided with chip racks35 extending from the inner to the outer edge thereof. Each chiprack 3Sincludes an outer or rear wall 36- and a plurality of chip receivinggrooves 37, 38 and 39, which extend inwardly from said outer wall andwhich are inclined downwardly and inwardly. The two outer chip receivinggrooves 37 and 39 .are provided intermediate of their ends withtranverse partitions 40. The inner wall has notches 41 which communicatewith the inner ends of the chip grooves 37 and 39', and which are of asize less than the crosssectional size of said grooves to provide fingerreceiving openings into which the players ngers can be placed forextracting a single chip from either the groove 37 or the groove 39.

A plurality of trunk-type latches 42 are carried by the table top 16 andeach includes an elongated base 43 which is disposed radially of the top16 and secured to the underside thereof by fastenings 44. One end of alayer 45 is pivoted at 46 to the outer end of the base 43, which islocated beyond the periphery of the table top 16. One end of a link 47is pivoted to an intermediate portion of the lever 45. A hook 48 has abase 49 which is molded into the underside of the recess 22. The hook 48faces outwardly to be engaged by the link 47 when the lever 45 is swungupwardly and outwardly from its dotted line position of FIG. 7 in aclockwise direction. Thereafter, the lever 45 is swung counterclockwiseabout its pivot 46 to its full line, locked position of FIG. 7. Eightsuch latches 42 and hooks 48 are preferably provided for releasablylatching the rim 18 to the table top 16.

As seen in FIG. 5, a portion of the table top 16, adjacent itsperiphery, is provided with an opening '50' to receive a pin 50 whichprojects from a portion of the underside of the rim 18 so that said rimcan only be applied in one position to the table top 16 and in which thelatches 42 are disposed in radial alignment with the hooks 48.

As best seen in FIGS. 3 and 7, hooks 51 are xed to and depend from theunderside of the top wall `19, inwardly with respect to the recesses 22.A playing surface cloth 52 covers the pad 17 and has a peripheral hem`53 containing a drawstring 54. The drawstring 5'4 has circumferentiallyspaced exposed portions each of which is engaged by a loop 55. Saidloops 55 engage the hooks 51 to hold the cloth extended. The bottom edgeof the inner wall 20 rests upon the cloth covering 52 of the pad 17adjacent the peripheries of the pad and covering and the octagonalshaped exposed area of the cloth covered pad 17 defined by the octagonalshaped opening of the rim 18, formed by the wall 20, constitutes theplaying surface of the table 12.

Beside each rack 3'5 there is a match holding receptacle 56 formed by adepression or recess in the top wall 19.

One end of a brace rod 57 is hinged at 58 to a plate 59, secured to theunderside of the table top 16. A brace rod 57 is disposed in alignmentwith each arm 21 and said brace rods are hinged to swing outwardly andupwardly toward said arms. The rear wall 34, as seen in FIG. 3, areprovided with upwardly and inwardly opening sockets 60 to receive thefree ends of the brace rods 57. The arms 21 are sufficiently resilientso that they may be sprung upwardly and outwardly to enable brace rods57 to be engaged with the sockets 60. The brace rods `57 will rigidifythe arms 2'1 and the rim 1-8, and will maintain said arms with theshelves 29 and 33 inclined upwardly and outwardly at a slight angle sothat drinking glasses 72 resting on the bottom shelves 33 will tend toslide inwardly against the V-shaped rear walls 34.

The spaces 61 between the adjacently disposed arms 21 constitutestations or areas each adapted to accommodate a card player seated on achair. Thus, each player has an allotted area which he or she can occupyand each player will be prevented from encroaching upon the area of an'adjacent player by the arm 21 disposed therebetween. The drinksupporting shelves 33 are located at a level below the players elbows tominimize the possibility of drinks being overturned, and so that theplayers can be served drinks without inconvenience to the players. Theshelves 29 are located so that the garment sleeves of the players willnot contact and be damaged by the burning contents of the ashtrays 31.The arm rests 23 are located at a convenient height to form a rest for aforearm of each player.

FIG. 10 illustrates a slight modification of the card table, designatedgenerally `62, and wherein the pad 17 and its cover 52 are omitted fromthe table top 63. The octagonal shaped inner wall 64 of the rim 65,corresponding to the wall 20, rests directly upon the table top 63, nearits periphery. An octagonal shaped pad 66, of the proper size, titssnugly in the octagonal opening defined by the wall 64 and rests uponthe table top 63. The pad 66 has a removable cloth covering 67, theperipheral edge of which is defined by a hem 68 containing a drawstring69. The marginal portion of the covering 67 is drawn under theperipheral edge of the pad 66 when the ends 70 of the draw-string aredrawn together. An opening 71 is provided in the table top 63y tofacilitate removal of the pad 66, so that a fresh cover can be appliedto the pad or another pad containing a fresh cover can be substitutedfor the removed pad. It will be apparent that this can be accomplishedmuch more readily than replacement of the cover 52, which requires thedetachment of the rim 18 from the table top 16 so that a fresh pad canbe applied to the underside of said rim before replacement of said rim.Additionally, the rim is provided with a more stable support in that itengages directly upon the surface of the table top 63 whereas the rim 18rests upon the cushion 17.

It will be obvious that the rim could be made in other shapes havingfrom three to eight or more sides and three to eight or more stations.Likewise, the number of latches 42 and hooks 48 could be reduced orincreased, and numerous other modifications and changes are contemplatedand may be resorted to without departing from the function or scope ofthe invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. A game table comprising a table top, means supporting said table topin an elevated, substantially horizontal position, a rim supported bysaid table top and extending outwardly from the periphery thereof, saidrim having outwardly and downwardly extending circumferentially spacedarms dividing the game table into a plurality of stations or areas, theconstruction and arrangement of the arms relative to the table beingsuch as to enable a player to be positioned between adjacent arms.

2. A game table as in claim 1, said rim being separable from said top,and means detachably latching said rim to the table top.

3. A game table as in claim 2, a pad supported on the table top, a clothdefining a playing surface, means detachably fastening said cloth to anunderside of said rim for positioning the cloth over the pad when therim is supported by the table top.

4. A game table as in claim 2, braces secured to the underside of saidtable top, said arms having means detachably receiving said braces forsupporting and bracing the arms remote from the table top.

5. A game table as in claim 4, each of said arms including a bottomdrink supporting shelf positioned at a slight incline outwardly andupwardly by engagement of one of the braces with the arm, and said armhaving a portion extending upwardly from said shelf and forming a rearwall against which a drinking glass, resting on the shelf, is adapted tobear.

6. A game table as in claim 1, a pad resting detachably on the table topof a size and shape to t snugly within said rim, and a detachable coverforming a playing surface covering the top surface of said pad.

7. A game table as in claim 1, said rim including circumferentiallyspaced chip rac-ks disposed between said arms one in front of eachstation.

8. A game table as in claim 1, and an arm rest supported by each arm anddisposed above a top surface of the rim. j f

6 9. A game table as in claim 1, and means associated 2,322,089 6/ 1943Greitzer 273-136 Z with said rim and providing a chip rack, arm rest,drink 2,476,535 7/ 1949 Denson et a1 273-136 Z supporting shelf, ashtrayholding recess and match receptacle, associated with each of saidstations. FOREIGN PATENTS 5 70,464 8/1893 Germany. References CitedUNITED STATES PATENTS DELBERT B. LOWE, Primary Examiner 848,042 3/11907Musgrave 273-136 Z U.S. Cl. X.R. 1,998,672 4/1935 Hammond 273-136 Z X10S-28, 50, 161

